Hit Stories This Week

Why you should care

A dictator who burnishes his image on Instagram, the way U.S. college costs discourage having more kids, and a rising political star in Norway: our readers’ favorite stories.

By OZY Editors

The Daily DoseOCT 13 2013

Before we dig into this week’s most-read stories, we have to share our excitement over a few of this week’s tweets and comments. OZY family friend and founder and chair of Emerson Collective, Laurene Powell Jobs contributed a story about building a sustainable global economy by assigning real economic value to the environment. As she explained, the best leadership on this issue is coming from Botswana president Ian Khama, who is steering his nation down an eco-friendly development path. We weren’t the only ones intrigued: former Vice President Al Gore and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey shared the story with their followers.

Must read article by my dear friend Laurene Powell Jobs on why we have to put an accurate value on natural capital: http://t.co/auoKwHdOuj

We also must tell you about a few of the insightful points being made in our comment sections. There’s nothing better than hearing direct feedback from the OZY tribe, so be sure to jump in to the conversation and share your views.

On Failure to Communicate - Commenter egebhardt weighed in on how President Obama, known for his moving speeches, seems to have a communication problem on health care: ”In a world driven so much by short form media - tweets, Facebook posts, YouTube videos, summary newsletters - It is equally important to be able to communicate in short bursts.”

On to this week’s most-viewed:

1. Our piece about the ironfisted Instagrammer, Ramzan Kadyrov drew the biggest audience of the week. Kadyrov is a fascinating figure, credited with stabilizing his country but also accused of kidnapping, torturing and murdering hundreds of people there. He’s taken to social media with images of himself smelling flowers, playing with animals, and posing with a friendly grin – will the image control pay off?

2. Readers were also drawn to a provocative question we posed: Are the rising costs of college education creating a de facto one-child policy in the U.S.? When you consider that fees for a graduate of the class of 2034 will top $288,000 (in today’s dollars) at an average-priced four-year private college and $123,000 at an average-priced public college, it has to give you pause.

3. A profile of Scandanavia’s own Iron Lady, Siv Jensen , drew plenty of attention from readers, including a tweet from conservative libertarian Republican and founder of Americans for Tax Reform, Grover Norquist. Expected to take on the hugely influential post of finance minister, she’ll oversee Norway’s oil-enriched, $800 billion Government Pension Fund, the world’s largest sovereign-wealth fund. The Progress Party she leads may be considered far right in Norway, but in American terms, it would be left-wing Republican: classically liberal and pro-free market. Her next challenge? Partnering with the center-right Conservatives in a newly-formed government.

Thanks for checking us out and be sure to share your favorite OZY story with a friend!